CounterSpin is the weekly radio show of FAIR, the national media watch group.
The message from many politicians and their media amplifiers: Cheating on taxes is a luxury only the rich can, or... more
"The same forces that were at play in the '60s to remove Lumumba are at play today in terms of... more
Lumumba's assassination, judging by attention, has no lessons for US citizens or the press corps about the past, the present... more
Another company silently snuck a forced arbitration clause into its terms of service—and that company is the New York Times.
The public still look to news media to give them accurate, independently sourced and documented information to help them make... more
There's an unarticulated underpinning to elite media conversation that as a consumer, you don't have anything called a "right."
CounterSpin is thankful to every activist, researcher, reporter and advocate who appeared on the show, of whom this is just... more
The Very Smart People will tell us that what we really ought to do, what the intelligent people would do,... more
Those who want to eliminate the Indian Child Welfare Act are opposed by the reality that made the Act necessary... more
The New York Times parrots the implausible suggestion that cities cracking down on unsheltered people constitutes efforts to help them.
The struggle for pay and dignity at the University of California is part of a bigger fight about whether educators... more
The African continent as a playing field for white people to test their theories, extract resources and stage proxy wars... more
Before Bankman-Fried’s transition from financial genius to possible financial criminal, he received little scrutiny in the media.
It's hard not to imagine the use that a differently focused press corps might make of Brazil's change of direction.
For the Western press, the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party offered a number of signals which—if read... more
The affordable housing crisis is not just capitalism run amok, because that doesn't happen without government involvement.
US news media ignore the role US intervention has played throughout Haitian history in order to push for the same... more
"The culture of imprisonment tells a deeper story about America. We're not going to get it if we don't go... more
Overt, proud-of-it bias has shaped coverage of Mumia Abu-Jamal's case from the outset, and current mentions suggest little has changed.
Election coverage should be judged not by how reporters "treat" Democrats or Republicans, but about how they inform and engage... more
Janine Jackson interviewed San Francisco State University’s John Logan about Amazon and Starbucks organizing for the October 7, 2022, episode... more
Growing numbers of people have concerns, not just about uncritical US support for Israel, but also about the shutdown of... more
With tens of thousands of workers walking out around the country, the notion that this is somehow not meaningful should... more
Tax giveaways to non–Puerto Ricans mean money not going to Puerto Rico's energy systems, schools, hospitals, housing.
US news media need to not only acknowledge inflicting racist harms, but take seriously the idea of repairing them.
For corporate media, being a paid flack for the police in no way disqualifies you to offer analysis of... more
Please ask CNN to explain why a person who misrepresents the evidence on the causes of crime trends should be... more
News media missed an opportunity to interrogate the media outlets and politicians who repeatedly invoke the white replacement idea.
The film Powerlands covers Indigenous people around the world, and the resource extraction stealing their water, minerals and homelands.
The corporate media narrative on Israel/Palestine makes it hard to make sense of the recent assault by Israeli forces on... more
We have some questions about the US government's claim that this time, they're really bringing stability and security to Central... more
Alex Jones' lawyer says talking about his white supremacism would "distract from the main issues." What are the "main issues"... more
This week on CounterSpin: The crises we face right now in the US—a nominally democratic political process that’s strangled by... more
There's a way to tell the story of heat waves that connects to policy and planning, but that centers human... more
This week on CounterSpin: The internet has changed the way we communicate, access information and even organize, which means concerns... more
This week on CounterSpin: The Supreme Court’s reversal on abortion rights is so actually and potentially devastating that it’s hard... more
"That kind of legal philosophy could seriously endanger not just the environment, but the ability of Congress to pass all... more
A film that offers an entirely uncritical and glowing portrait of the UAE ought to make PBS take a closer... more
A Supreme Court led by Chief Justice John Roberts has gutted multiple legally and societally established precedents.
This week on CounterSpin: Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the majority opinion on Kennedy v. Bremerton that “the... more
It's hard to parse corporate media coverage of Biden's Saudi visit, because that coverage obscures rather than illuminates what's going... more
It's 40 years since Vincent Chin's murder, with a depressingly resonant context of anti-Asian hatred and scapegoating,
Modest legal steps that would go unnoticed in most countries are—in Nicaragua’s case—clear evidence that it is “inching toward dictatorship.”
US officials have free rein to continue inflicting collective punishment on Venezuelans without challenge or scrutiny.
On Biden’s and Trump’s favorable ratings, Gen Xers find themselves mostly in the middle among generations.
There are people and policies, with names, preventing developing countries from accessing life-saving Covid vaccines.
While alternative media are up in arms about the Supreme Court's ruling, corporate news media don't seem to think there's... more
This week on CounterSpin: CBS News‘ website featured a story about the “grim task” of planning funerals for 19 children—shot... more
The Buffalo killer is a white supremacist who believes there's a plot run by Jews to "replace" white people with... more
Elite media are interested in abortion as an issue, but it is not understood as a human right but rather... more
A new website uses critical race theory as a prism to explore the range of threats to multi-racial democracy and... more
"If it bleeds, it leads" journalism lets news outlets look as though they're tracking an important event in real time.
Who pays taxes, how much, and why? We revisit two conversations about tax policy racism and taxing the rich on... more
The Philadelphia Inquirer's "A More Perfect Union" project is aimed at examining racism in US institutions, including media institutions.
This week on CounterSpin: He wanted to go to the Capitol on January 6, Donald Trump tells the Washington Post,... more
Will we keep having a Supreme Court justice declaring himself "one being" with a spouse who declares the 2020 election... more
It's a good time to recall that we had a war in this country in which many people declared that... more
Yemen is not a rhetorical device. It's a country of human beings in crisis.
Economic pressure is presented as a way of avoiding violence. But there's a problem with seeing sanctions as an alternative... more
Is what we call "higher" education an individual investment or a public good? The way news media talk about it... more
Some state-backed journalists must register as “foreign agents” with the US government. But others don't have to.
This week on CounterSpin: Black History Month has always been something of a double-edged sword: It implies that Black history... more
Understanding the Ukraine crisis involves letting go of the storyline in which the US equals benevolent democracy and Russia equals... more
Why has the system broken down? You could say media's reluctance to critically break down systems is itself a system... more
The spate of new election-meddling laws proposed in Arizona suggests that looking away from Trumpists' "audit" is not the answer.
A judge has approved a debt restructuring deal for Puerto Rico and the deal's architects are saying it means a... more
While corporate media have largely let the water crisis in Flint go, the story isn't over, nor has justice been... more
New York Times coverage of Covid in China, with its casual Nazi analogies, reaches a level of partisan hyperbole on... more
We are a long way from understanding the full meaning of Guantánamo. But we can get the remaining detainees out.
The loss of an information source—a particular place for debate, for conversation, on issues relevant to you—is incalculable, but very... more
A judge has approved a debt restructuring deal for Puerto Rico and the deal's architects are saying it means a "new day"... more